Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Disgruntled exes,
who post pictures of their former spouses or partners on websites in revenge, could
soon be penalized under a new piece of legislation that has recently been
approved in California. The bill is still pending Governor, Jerry Brown's
signature.

Under the
bill, persons who post sexually explicit photographs of other people on
websites, with the intent to cause distress, could be penalized. The bill makes
some forms of revenge posting a misdemeanor. Violators will be punished with
jail time or fines. However, the bill only applies to photos that are taken by
others. The photographs must also have been posted online with the intent to
cause distress to the person.

The law
comes in response to a number of cases being reported from around the country,
in which persons, especially women, have had their nude and seminude
photographs posted on such revenge porn websites. These photographs were taken when
these women were in relationships, and ended up making their way to the websites
when the relationship headed south.

Typically,
women have very little recourse to criminal action against the posting of such
photographs. Most women file civil lawsuits claiming copyright infringement,
invasion of privacy, or child pornography. However, they have little legal
recourse to holding the person responsible for posting these photographs liable
in a criminal court of law.

The
California law aims to change that. However, the law is a watered–down version
of the original piece of legislation that activists have been pushing for.
These activists include women who had their photographs posted on revenge porn
websites and their family members sites. These activists say that what is really
required is federal legislation that makes such
activities a criminal offense.